Online articles

• Basis swap blues

  A tight cross-currency basis swap at the start of 2020 is limiting the opportunities that usually exist for offshore borrowers in Australian dollars at the start of each year. Traders expect pressures in short- and long-term funding markets to continue to influence the basis, which could pose an ongoing challenge for Kangaroo issuance.

• Done deal: big second half makes 2019 a strong year

  Transaction data from KangaNews’s deal database highlight a strong second half of 2019 in the Australasian credit market. Meanwhile, syndicated semi-government supply notably increased, the green, social and sustainability bond space grew significantly and New Zealand domestic issuance achieved record 12-month volume.

• End of the road

  I cannot claim to be particularly good as a forecaster, as even a cursory glance at my online betting account will attest. Even so, the start of a new decade seems an apposite moment to make some wild predictions about developments in the global economy we might see make an impact on the global market.

• Globetrotting major banks start 2020 in high gear

  Australia’s big-four banks took advantage of strong demand and tight pricing in global markets in the first month of 2020. All major funding options and investor types provided strong demand but US dollars has been a standout.

• Looking out, looking in

  A limited pool of opportunities in the domestic market and the perception of better liquidity in deals priced under global documentation are causing Australian credit fund managers to consider a wider universe of Australian dollar issuance.

• NZGIF ready to accelerate emissions-reduction investments

  New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) is a pillar of the government’s strategy for the environment. The fund now has the green light to deploy its NZ$100 million (US$66.5 million) of mandated funds. Wellington-based chief executive, Craig Weise, speaks with KangaNews about the green bank’s flexible strategy, long-term horizons and how it will go about crowding in private-sector investment.

• The time is now

  While true corporate deals in the Australian market last year did not reach the heights of 2017, a second-half resurgence brought record volume from triple-B issuers and hints that extended duration is on the cards once more. The question is whether the corporate space will continue to grow in 2020 or lose momentum as it did in 2018.

• USPP investors acknowledge competition – but issuers stay loyal

  The US private placement market has arguably been the first choice for Australasian corporates’ capital-markets funding for many years. At a roundtable KangaNews and MUFG Securities hosted in Miami in January, USPP investors say they are aware that other funding options – including the Australian domestic market – are increasingly able to offer execution certainty, including at extended tenor. But...